#112 in the Moʻolelo series, Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa points out that in Hawaiian, the phrase ka wā ma mua indicated the past, as if the past is before us (in front of us) whereas the future is ka wā ma hope, the time that lies behind. I thought it could be helpful to make a basic timeline of the dates of events in Hawaiian history. I used to have one on the wall of my classroom, but I took it down after noticing that students were strangely only invested in it during tests! So here it is, recreated for you – thereʻs no quiz afterward, especially because I will invariably miss events – let me know if I miss really major ones (I have the feeling I will, and will be adding to this for some time):
300 – 900 (AD or CE) – Polynesians arrive in Hawaiʻi – early settlement sites: Waimānalo Oʻahu, Haleleʻa Kauaʻi, Halawa Molokaʻi
900-1100 – Paʻao helps create “Classical” Hawaiian society
1100 – Beginning of large population increase, warfare
1350 – Maiʻlikūkahi refines ahpuaʻa on Oaʻhu
1400-1600 Piʻilani unifies four islands (Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe) – Nāhonoapiʻilani
1600-1700 – ʻUmi-a-Liloa
1700 – Date given for completion of Kumulipo creation chant (last name added in genealogy – Lonoikamakahiki)
1758 – Kamehameha is born
1778 – Cook Arrives
1779 – Cook returns and is killed at Kealakekua, Kona
1782 – Kalaniopuʻu dies, initiating battle for Hawaiʻi Island
1791 – Kamehameha defeats Keouakūahuula, unifying Hawaiʻi Island
1795, May – Battle of Nuʻuanu
1804 – Maʻi okuʻu epidemic, Keʻeaumoku dies
1810 – Kaumualiʻi cedes Kauaʻi to Kamehameha – official start of Hawaiian Kingdom
1819, May 8 – Kamehameha dies, Liholiho named Kamehameha II
Kalani-Kua Liholiho ʻIolani – “Tamehameha II” 
Kauikeaouli
1819, December – Abolition of ʻAikapu, Battle of Kuamoʻo
1820, April – Missionaries arrive
1823 – Liholiho, Kamehameha II travels to London England
1824 – Liholiho dies
1825 – Kauikeaouli named Kamehameha III
1826 – Boki sails to New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in search of sandalwood (end of sandalwood era)
1830 – Whaling era begins
1831 – Lahainaluna founded
1835 – First sugar plantation founded in Kōloa, Kauaʻi
1839 – LaPlace arrives from France demanding equal treatment of Catholics
1839 – Declaration of Rights establishes rights for people, limits power of King and chiefs and Hawaiʻi as a Christian nation
1840 – Kumu Kanawai, First Constitution (Constitution of 1840), Declaration of Rights becomes “preamble”
1841 – Laws of Hawaiʻi published
1841 – Punahou (Oʻahu College) founded by Daniel Dole
1843, February – Paulet Affair
1843, July 31 – Sovereignty restored by Admiral Thomas (Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea)
1843, November 28 – Recognition of Hawaiʻi’s sovereignty by Britain and France (Lā Kūʻokoʻa)
1845 – Land Commission created
1846 – St. Louis School founded
1848 – Māhele begun
1850 – Land Law of 1850 allows foreigners to buy land
1850 – Kuleana Act allows makaʻāinana to claim land
1850 – First Chinese immigration, Masters and Servants Act regulates work and immigration contracts
1852 – Constitution of 1852
1854 – Kamehameha III dies, aged 41, Alexander Liholiho named Kamehameha IV
1855 – Land Commission completes Māhele and Kuleana divisions
1862 – Kamehameha IV dies, succeeded by Lot Kapuāiwa (Kamehameha V)
1862 – ʻIolani School founded
1864 – Kamehameha V promulgates Constitution of 1864
1867 – St. Andrew’s Priory founded by Queen Emma
1869 – First Japanese immigration
1872 – Kamehameha V dies, election of Lunalilo
1874 – Lunalilo dies, election of Kalākaua
1881 – Kalākaua World Tour
1882 – ʻIolani Palace completed
1884 – Bernice Pauahi Bishop dies
1885 – Queen Emma dies
1887 – Bayonet Constitution
1887 – Kamehameha School for Boys opens
1891 – Kalākaua dies, Liliʻuokalani named Queen (monarch)
1891 – Kamehameha School for Girls opens
1893, January 16 – US Marines land at Honolulu
1893, January 17 – Liliʻuokalani cedes executive authority under protest
Queen Lili’uokalani 
Princess Kaʻiulani
1894, July 4 – Republic of Hawaiʻi created
1895 – Kaua Kuloko – Wilcox rebellion
1895 – Liliʻuokalani arrested, put on trial and imprisoned
1896 – McKinley elected, Liliʻuokalani travels to D.C. to oppose annexation
1897 – Pres. McKinley introduces Treaty of Annexation
1897-1898 – Kūʻē petitions against annexation, Treaty fails
1898, August 13 – “Annexation” by Joint Resolution
1899 – Princess Kaʻiulani, heir to the throne, dies
1900 – Organic Act creates Territorial government, Wilcox elected to Congress
1902 – Kūhiō (a Republican) defeats Wilcox
1907 – College of Hawaiʻi founded (later called University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa)
1917 – Ua hala o Queen Liliʻuokalani
1920 – 1930 – Tourism industry begins
1921 – Hawaiian Homes Commission Act
1922 – Prince Kūhiō, an heir to the throne, dies
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaʻole
1941, December 7 – Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor, Martial law begins
1944 – Martial law ends
1950 – Constitutional Convention for the Territory of Hawaiʻi
1954 – Democratic Revolution, Democrats win majority of Territorial legislature
1959, August – Statehood Act passes
1960 – 1970 – Development boom
1964 – Merrie Monarch hula festival begins
1970 – Kalama Valley struggle, ALOHA Association lobbies Congress for reparations
1974 – George Ariyoshi elected governor
1976 – Activists protest the bombing of Kahoʻolawe
1976 – Hokuleʻa sails to Tahiti
1978 – Hawaiʻi Constitutional Convention, Hawaiian made an official language of the State
1980 – Office of Hawaiian Affairs created
1986 – John Waiheʻe, first Hawaiian governor elected
1987 – Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi creates constitution
1993, January 17 – 100th anniversary of overthrow – 20,000-30,000 march on ʻIolani Palace
1993, November – Apology Resolution (Public Law 103-150) apologizes to Native Hawaiians for overthrow and subsequent dispossession
1994 – Benjamin Cayetano elected governor
1995 – PASH decision affirms native gathering and access rights
1996 – Hawaiians vote for Hawaiian Constitutional convention (Hā Hawaiʻi)
1998 – 100th anniversary of annexation, Kūʻē petitions discovered
1999 – Akaka bill introduced to Congress
2000 – Rice v. Cayetano rules that non-Hawaiians can vote for OHA
2002 – Linda Lingle elected governor
2005 – First of many marches in defense of Hawaiian entitlements, Doe v. Kamehameha challenges Hawaiian preference admission policy
2010 – Neil Abercrombie elected governor
2012 – Akaka Bill withdrawn, Daniel Inouye dies
2014 – David Ige elected governor
2014 – Dept. of Interior hearings for “rule change” allowing establishment of Native Hawaiian Governing Entity
2016 – Kanaʻiolowalu and Naʻi Aupuni create Hawaiian constitution – election enjoined by US Supreme Court
2019 – Mauna Kea movement establishes Puʻuhuluhulu
the umiverse 